Thanksgiving starts the holiday season for us and with that, comes the meals, outdoor decorations, Christmas trees, travel, and countless other things.  The holidays are typically an enjoyable time, but because of either mechanical or human error; the holiday season is also linked to a large amount of fires and accidents.

A Thanksgiving meal would not be complete without a turkey, and deep frying a turkey is becoming very popular.  There are many safety considerations that you should take note of when preparing a turkey using a deep fryer.  These are some suggestions to keep your holiday meal preparation a little more safe.

• Keep the turkey fryer at least 20’ from any structure
• Do not place a turkey fryer on or near a deck or any combustible/flammable materials
• Be cautious when using a turkey fryer in the rain or snow – the moisture striking the hot oil can cause it to splatter outside of the pot
• Make sure that your turkey is fully thawed before placing it in the hot oil; this will prevent crackling and splattering of the oil
• Make sure that the turkey fryer is on a solid, flat, and stable surface
• Keep people and pets away from the fryer when it is in use to prevent injuries and prevent the pot from being spilled
• Make sure that an adult is with the fryer at all times when it is in use

There are also many considerations of safety in regard to Christmas decorations.  Christmas trees and holiday lighting can pose a great threat of a fire if they are not properly cared for.  Below are some of the safety tips for Christmas decorations…

• Make sure that your Christmas tree is properly watered to prevent drying of the tree and the possibility of a fire due to the lights on the tree
• Check your holiday lighting for any cracks or tears in the wiring and to ensure that the items are properly fused
• Inspect the lights for loose bulbs and replace any that are not tight fitting
• Follow the manufacturer’s suggestions regarding the number of strings of lights that can be connected together; this will vary based on the type of lights you are using
• Make sure that your holiday lights are turned off when you are not at home
• Make sure that you are not overloading any electrical circuits in your house with lighting
• Be tidy with your wiring to prevent any trip hazards
• If you have pets, be cautious of chewing of wires
• Some of the newer lighting technology (LED) puts off less heat and may be a safer way to go
• Do not pinch wires in doorways
• Stay abreast of any unusual odors that may be indicative of burning or shorting circuits
• If a breaker trips, figure out what the problem is before resetting it

As the winter season arrives and travel will be increased, it is a good idea to keep a few additional items in your vehicle to prepare for any emergencies.  The winter season poses greater risks for hypothermia and frostbite if you find yourself in the elements for any prolonged period of time unprotected.  There are also some changes that you may want to make in regards to how you drive when the weather changes.  Below are some suggestions to keep you protected in the winter months.

• Keep a blanket in your vehicle at all times
• Make sure that your windshield washer fluid is full and that you are using a winter mixture
• Keep jumper cables and/or a jump pack in your vehicle at all times
• If you are making any long trips, keep someone posted about your travel plans
• Be certain that you have gloves, a hat, and a winter coat when you are traveling
• Keep a couple of bottles of water in your vehicle
• If you have one, make sure your cell phone is charged and with you when you are traveling
• Keep a working flashlight in your vehicle
• When you are traveling, stay updated on the weather reports and changing conditions
• Makes sure to leave yourself plenty of extra time when traveling
• Keep greater distances between you and the next vehicle
• Allow your vehicle to warm up a few minutes before moving
• Be sure to clear all of your windows to ensure proper visibility

I hope that these suggestions will serve as a refresher to you for your safety during the holiday/winter season.  Please feel free to offer any additional safety tips that you may have!

Stay safe and train hard!

Read more about the Leatherheads on their website.

Apple iOS 6 for iPhone & iPad launches this week. There’s over 200 new features and enhancements, and it’s a free upgrade for everyone so the [D4H] Crew thought we’d do a run down.

1) Google Maps is Gone, Apple Maps are In
Apple have removed Google Maps from the iPhone, we assume it’ll be available as a standalone app, but when you click on an address or location from now on you’ll get Apple Maps. The big difference is vector rendering (how maps are loaded) – whereas Google has tile-based rendering. This will allow you to zoom in & out much smoother, tilt in 3D, and perform flyovers. You also get turn-by-turn navigation on iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad 3. Apparently hi-res 3D flyovers will also be available for metropolitan areas – this is something we’ll keep a close eye on.
Warning: If you regularly look up satellite imagery in Google Maps to get an idea of your operating area, we don’t know what quality Apple Maps will provide yet. Make sure to pre-check your area, especially outside the US to make sure you’re not caught short on a mission. We do know Apple have licenced road network content from a SatNav provider so presumably road content will be top notch but slow to upgrade.

2) Facebook Integration Like Twitter
If your Public Relations officer updates your organization’s Twitter from their iPhone, it’s great for photos and statuses of missions & training, you’ll now be able to do this with the new Facebook Integration also. Unlike using the apps, the integrations allow you to post a photo directly from the camera or location directly from the map.
Warning: You won’t be able to update your team’s ‘Facebook Page’ from what we can see. Unlike Twitter where you can have multiple accounts, and organizations are the same as users, on Facebook you’re only allowed 1 personal account, and organizations have Pages. You’ll still have to use the Facebook Pages app for this.

Read the full article on D4H.org.

By Mary Rose Roberts

For Fire Chief

Federal Signal this week released its third-annual Public Safety Survey at the BE Safe America congressional briefing at the U.S. Capitol. Conducted by Zogby International, the survey provides statistics regarding Americans’ knowledge of and response to emergency notifications, including what most motivates citizens to take action.

“There was an absence of information on a national scale about people’s public-safety awareness or their own preparation [for an emergency],” said John Von Thaden,Federal Signal’s vice president and general manager for alerting and emergency systems. “We felt this information could be a tool for our customers as well as the general public-safety community.”

The survey found 71% of Americans were unsure whether a personal alerting and notification system (ANS) existed in their area, whether via telephone call, text message or e-mail. At the same time, 58% surveyed expected local communities to provide such a service.

Read more.

By Lt. Michael Swiman
of the Lake Forest FD

This has been on my mind recently with all the events around the country with budgets: brothers doing harm. I had found this while doing research for a project and this resonates so true. I could have not said it any better. Please take a moment to read

“We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are dozens of times more likely to be killed, and thousands of times more likely to be seriously injured, by school violence than by school fires, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their children is just too hard, so they choose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.”

Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.” – Lt. Col. Grossman
“This is dedicated to all the sheepdogs out there, underappreciated though they may be, that hunt the things that go bump in the night and keep the wolves at bay”. – rangerup.com

This is not limited to our brothers in Law Enforcement, but to what we do day in, day out in our profession. We work a thankless job, never seeking rewards or praise. We do what we do for the love of the job. Yes there are people out there that are in this job for the wrong reasons AND there are plenty of people that criticize what we do, why we do things and want justification on why the fire truck is at the store buying groceries or out training. Politicians want to cut our funding, asking us to do more with less. WE ARE THE SHEEPDOG.

Dramatically reduces tactical extrication time

The LION Personal Issue Tactical Rescue Stretcher increases officer safety by slashing the amount of time required to extricate a casualty.

The stretcher is constructed from military grade nylon mesh and webbing and has two restraint straps. It’s strength has been tested to 1,960 lbs.

It weighs just 12 ozs. and stows in a 4″ x 6″ bag. The bag easily attaches to your ballistic vest or belt, so the tools for emergency rescue are immediately at hand.

Alternative stretchers are bulky and cumbersome. They take too long to deploy, potentially creating more casualties.

• Cost effective
• Rugged, lightweight 4″ x 6″ stow bag attaches to ballistic vest shell or belt
• Stabilizes head in supine position
• Weighs just 12 ounces
• Deploys in seconds
• Supports immediate extraction in challenging environments
• One to six carrier rescue options
• Carrier(s) can operate weapon/suppress fire
• Easy to transport and transfer
• Military grade nylon mesh and webbing

Click to view a detailed diagram of the Tactical Rescue Stretcher:

TRS dimensions diagram
TRS bag dimensions

The TRS is currently being deployed into active service within law enforcement and military organizations. Would you have an application for the TRS as a first responder in the fire industry?

Jeffrey Mitchell, a volunteer firefighter in the suburbs of Baltimore, came across the accident by chance: A car had smashed into a pickup truck loaded with metal pipes. Mitchell tried to help, but he saw at once that he was too late.

The car had rear-ended the truck at high speed, sending a pipe through the windshield and into the chest of the passenger—a young bride returning home from her wedding. There was blood everywhere, staining her white dress crimson.

Mitchell couldn’t get the dead woman out of his mind; the tableau was stuck before his eyes. He tried to tough it out, but after months of suffering, he couldn’t take it anymore. He finally told his brother, a fellow firefighter, about it.

Miraculously, that worked. No more trauma; Mitchell felt free. This dramatic recovery, along with the experiences of fellow first responders, led Mitchell to do some research into recovery from trauma. He eventually concluded that he had stumbled upon a powerful treatment. In 1983, nearly a decade after the car accident, Mitchell wrote an influential paper in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services that transformed his experience into a seven-step practice, which he called critical incident stress debriefing, or CISD. The central idea: People who survive a painful event should express their feelings soon after so the memory isn’t “sealed over” and repressed, which could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

In recent years, CISD has become exceedingly popular, used by the US Department of Defense, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Israeli army, the United Nations, and the American Red Cross. Each year, more than 30,000 people are trained in the technique. (After the September 11 attacks, 2,000 facilitators descended on New York City.)

Even though PTSD is triggered by a stressful incident, it is really a disease of memory. The problem isn’t the trauma—it’s that the trauma can’t be forgotten. Most memories, and their associated emotions, fade with time. But PTSD memories remain horribly intense, bleeding into the present and ruining the future. So, in theory, the act of sharing those memories is an act of forgetting them.

Read the full article on Wired.com.

David Mulhausen, Ph.D. recently published this report criticizing the effectiveness of fire grants administered by FEMA for the conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation:

Ineffective Fire Grants

Fire grants, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), encompass a number of grant programs. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program subsidizes the routine activities of local fire departments and emergency management organizations. The Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grants fund projects to improve the safety of firefighters and the public from fire and related hazards. Created in late 2003, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants are intended to increase staffing levels by funding the salaries of career firefighters and paying for recruitment activities for volunteer fire departments.

The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis evaluated the effectiveness of fire grants by matching fire grant award data to the National Fire Incident Reporting System, an incident-based database of fire-related emergencies reported by fire departments. Using panel data from 1999 to 2006 for more than 10,000 fire departments, the evaluation assessed the impact of fire grants on four different measures of fire casualties: (1) firefighter deaths, (2) firefighter injuries, (3) civilian deaths, and (4) civilian injuries.

The Heritage evaluation compared fire departments that received grants to fire departments that did not receive grants. In addition, the evaluation compared the impact of the grants before and after grant-funded fire departments received federal assistance.

Fire grants appear to be ineffective at reducing fire casualties. AFG, SAFER, and FP&S grants failed to reduce firefighter deaths, firefighter injuries, civilian deaths, or civilian injuries. Without receiving fire grants, comparison fire departments were just as successful at preventing fire casualties as grant-funded fire departments.

You can read the full report here.

What do you think of the report? Do you think their evaluation will affect lawmaker’s decision to renew grants like the AFG and FP&S?

Of the many challenges first responders face, perhaps the greatest is communication — or lack thereof. Effective communication is essential in any emergency situation, yet too often, police, firemen and other public safety officials operate with multiple and incompatible radio and communication platforms. In some cases, the operational command systems and databases back at headquarters aren’t linked across agencies, making matters worse. The result, rather than a seamless emergency response system, is a jumble of disconnection.

To address this problem, and make public safety systems “smarter,” cities around the world are beginning to harness the power of analytics fed by sensors, global positioning systems, cameras, radio frequency tags and integrated communications to make more intelligent decisions. As analytical programs mine the incoming data, public safety officials can instruct local, state, federal and non-government authorities on how best to respond to emergencies and better protect citizens from harm.

A great example of first responders taking advantage of technology to better respond to emergencies is Rio de Janeiro. The city just announced that it is expanding its nerve center, with a new automated city alert system that will notify city officials and emergency personnel when changes occur in the flood and landslide forecast. As opposed to the existing system in which notifications are manually sent out, the automated response system is expected to drastically reduce the reaction times to emergency situations by using mobile communications including SMS and email alerts that will also reach citizens, ultimately improving reaction and response to save lives and prevent damage.

So while we may not be able to anticipate the fickleness of Mother Nature, talking advantage of technology will be a huge help in ensuring we’re prepared.
Read the full article on FireEngineering.com.

Pete Lorenzen is IBM’s Senior Location Executive for Boulder.

From the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau:

The EAS is a national public warning system that requires broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) providers, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers to provide the communications capability to the President to address the American public during a national emergency. The system also may be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, such as AMBER alerts and weather information targeted to specific areas.

The first Nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will be carried out on November 9, 2011. For more information about the test or access to the participant reporting system, please click here.

The FCC, in conjunction with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service (NWS), implements the EAS at the federal level. The President has sole responsibility for determining when the EAS will be activated at the national level, and has delegated this authority to the director of FEMA. FEMA is responsible for implementation of the national-level activation of the EAS, tests, and exercises. The NWS develops emergency weather information to alert the public about imminent dangerous weather conditions.

The FCC’s role includes prescribing rules that establish technical standards for the EAS, procedures for EAS participants to follow in the event The EAS is activated, and EAS testing protocols. Additionally, the FCC ensures that the EAS state and local plans developed by industry conform to FCC EAS rules and regulations.

Daylight Savings Time is always a perfect opportunity for fire departments to remind the public to tackle seasonal safety projects.

The most common reminders are:

• Replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and test both devices to make sure they are in working order.
• Clean gutters and downspouts to keep debris from accumulating. This is especially important now that the leaves are falling.
• Make an appointment to have your furnace cleaned and inspected by a qualified technician so it is working properly and efficiently all winter.
• Have your chimney cleaned so your fireplace will be ready for use.

Unfortunately scam artists are using this to target vulnerable consumers.  Fire Engineering reported that:

To date this year, the Better Business Bureau says it has received more than 380 complaints against chimney cleaners, up from the 342 complaints received in all of 2010.

In some cases, consumers have reported calls saying that the town fire department recommends the resident’s chimney be cleaned. The calls go on to recommend a particular chimney sweep and endorse their services on behalf of the fire department. Though town fire departments do recommend having chimneys cleaned on an annual basis, they do not endorse any particular company or inspect chimneys.

Safety tips courtesy of Kanetix.ca.